A large number of citizens protested on Monday in the center of Belgrade, demanding the annulment of local elections held in the Serbian capital on December 17.

The opposition coalition “Serbia against Violence” called for this protest, claiming that the victory of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in power in Belgrade is the “result of election theft”.

“We do not want and dare not recognize the elections in Belgrade because they are against the law, people from other countries have been abused,” said the representative of the “Serbia against Violence” coalition, Marinika Tepić, during the protest in front of the Republican Electoral Commission (REC) headquarters.

She declared that her coalition has “tens of thousands of pieces of evidence” of the manipulation of citizens’ electoral will.

“We have evidence and demand the annulment of the Belgrade elections,” said Tepić before some representatives of the opposition coalition entered the REC building to submit a request for the annulment of the elections.

Two opposition leaders declare a hunger strike

Marinika Tepić announced that she, along with another leader of the “Serbia against Violence” list, Miroslav Aleksić, would go on a hunger strike until, as she stated, the annulment of the elections.

Protesters in front of the REC entrance chanted and shouted: “We will not concede victory”, “Betrayal”, and threw eggs, tomatoes, and toilet paper towards the commission building.

An incident occurred briefly when a small group of protesters attempted to break a protective fence set up in front of the commission’s headquarters.

Opposition leaders prevented any major incident, urging the crowd “not to fall for provocations” and to remain calm.

The parties of the “Serbia against Violence” coalition claim that in the local elections in Belgrade on December 17, the SNS violated the electoral will of the citizens.

“Considering that more than 40,000 persons without legal residence were brought to Belgrade in an organized manner to support the SNS list, which drastically changed the electoral will of the citizens of Belgrade, we demand the annulment of the elections in the city of Belgrade and the repetition of the voting for the Municipal Assembly,” said the coalition.

From this coalition, they also called for the “cleaning of the voter list”.

Earlier, the SNS rejected accusations of influencing the will of the citizens during the December 17 elections.

The President of the SNS, Miloš Vučević, stated that he is “certain” that his list has won in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and that he believes Aleksandar Šapić will be the “new or old” mayor of the city.

According to the preliminary results of the City Electoral Commission, the SNS list won 39.3 percent of the votes (49 mandates) in the Belgrade elections, while the “Serbia against Violence” list won 34.3 percent (42 mandates).

Serbia held extraordinary parliamentary, local, and regional elections on Sunday.

The SNS declared victory at all levels.